Nick Curran And The Nitelifes
Doctor Velvet/Player!
(Sleazy)
★★★★½
Sleazy Records pay a fitting tribute to Nick Curran here by bringing two of his albums to vinyl for the first time. Although he tragically passed away in 2012 at the age of just 35, Curran managed to pack more into his career than many elder statesmen of rock’n’roll do in a lifetime. After touring with rockabilly legends Ronnie Dawson and Kim Lenz he joined The Fabulous Thunderbirds, then eventually established his own brand of delinquent rock’n’roll with Nick Curran And The Lowlifes. Alongside all that was his Nick Curran And The Nitelifes project which took a more bluesy direction.
Doctor Velvet from 2003 is a 13-track portion of jump blues, R&B and rock’n’roll that positively bristles with excitement. There’s not a moment to catch your breath as it flits between the booming title track, the doo-wop flavour of Please Don’t Leave Me and a powerful take on Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart before finishing things off nicely with the boogie-woogie instrumental Stompin’ At The Fort. The album’s polished production job offers a rich, full sound and even slower-paced tracks such as Drivin’ Me Crazy and She’s Gone have a simmering power.
Fitting Tribute
2004’s Player! simply kept the same big-band style intact but managed to create some even more memorable tunes, particularly the raucous title track and the heartbreaking Come Back.
There’s even a version of The Stooges’ No Fun included that’s almost unrecognisable in its new form. Billy Horton (of the Horton Brothers and Hot Club Of Cowtown) was once again in the producer’s chair and this album also offers the type of high-end sound that many mainstream blues releases boast, while never losing touch with the music’s more primitive roots.
It is still somehow surprising that the artist was only in his mid-twenties when both of these albums were recorded but they serve as a fitting reminder of Curran’s enormous talent.
Order here
Words by Craig Brackenridge
Sign up to the Vintage Rock newsletter
